This time last year, Thibodaux High School's soon-to-be senior Trovon Reed was coming off a weekend visit hosted by Auburn and its newly hired football staff.

In what's now known as Big Cat Weekend, about two dozen of some of the nation's most head-turning high school and junior college student-athletes were on the Plains meeting and greeting one another. As they got to know potential teammates or opponents, the recruits got a feel for what life would be like should they commit to the Tigers.

For Reed, who was being recruited as an athlete, it was a chance to get to know if the family atmosphere Auburn classically prides itself on was genuine. While he says every school's coaching staff claims to take care of players like family, Reed said he did some investigating at Auburn to find out for himself....